


Memory

by MatrixDream



Series: To Love A Drone (TLAD) [1]
Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One), Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers: Prime
Genre: Acid Rain - Freeform, Alien Culture, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Autistic Character, Bisexual Character, Discrimination, Empurata, Eventual Romance, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Lesbian Character, Mutilation, Pre-War, Seekers, Self-Esteem Issues, Trauma, Vos - Freeform, world building
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-14
Updated: 2020-09-01
Packaged: 2021-03-05 22:09:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25882630
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MatrixDream/pseuds/MatrixDream
Summary: A femme shunned and a femme loved form an unbreakable bond.
Relationships: Inter Phy (OC)/ Joule (OC), Inter Phy/Joule, OC/OC
Series: To Love A Drone (TLAD) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1878178
Kudos: 4





	1. Awaken

**Author's Note:**

> Inter Phy: https://5amanthus.tumblr.com/post/626362535980974080/name-inter-phy-integer-physics-frame-type

Pain was the first thing Inter Phy registered once she came online faced down in a gutter. Her limbs were stiff and heavy, but her back felt uneasily light as she attempted to move. She discovered she couldn't move her wings and panic began to well up in her spark at that revelation. With much effort, she managed to curl herself onto her side, noticing a burning feeling where her transformation cog should be. Her processor tried desperately to sort out all the unpleasant sensations, disorienting information, and warnings popping up on her HUD as she was bombarded with the data. 

Managing to close a few warnings, she calmed her spark and tried to get her bearings. She could feel the ground beneath her but she still couldn't see it. In-venting to ground herself, she steadily worked up to onlining her optics. Her visual field flickered before finally clearing, but she instantly noticed her perception was off. Beginning to raise her helm, she tried to shake the static from her processor then stopped as agony zipped up her spinal strut. She lifted a servo to soothe the pain but paused when she caught sight of it. 

"W-what?" Her voice box crackled out the self-directed inquiry as she tried to access her most recent memory. The files were fuzzy as secondary systems were still trying to reboot, but she knew for a fact that wasn't her servo or at least shouldn't be. There were too few fingers and the protoform was exposed, holes replaced the digit joints usual locations. 

The anxiety could be suppressed no longer as she desperately tried to make sense of her lack of mobility and frame parts. Notifications popped up everywhere about her self-repair trying to fix over **50%** of her body. She could still feel the numb burning in her T-Cog and ran a quick scan. To her horror she received an error as the organ appeared to be not found. She shook her helm in disbelief, accidentally disorientating her gyros before attempting to transform in vain. The plating clinked together and she shrieked as pure, raw agony ripped through her sensory net, sending convulsions through her systems as it fried circuits. The barely noticeable alert for a mandatory recharge quickly hit the red zone and forced her into stasis lock; lest she suffer more damage. Her singular optic offlined first before the rest of her frame did, leaving her completely helpless to the memory feedback relay.

* * *

_Vos was a popular and beautiful Cybertronian city; a place rich with energy sources and scientific endeavors. It was well known for its gorgeous flight framed citizens, as well as many celebrities. Certainly the city was one of the best in aesthetics and had a reputation of such. Meaning it was no place for a Minicon hybrid; with or without seeker coding. Now, one that was a sparkling femme was quite possibly even worse. It meant two classes had clashed and made something despicable, absolutely disgusting, unheard of. If that enough didn't put the world against a sparkling Minicon-Seeker Hybrid in Vos, then being abandoned by the transgressing couple who'd created her was the lowest of all. Simply, the young femme did not fit into a rigid socially constructed place, and was thus shunned by the bots around her._

_With bright green optics to take in the world, all she saw were charred skies through a narrow slit between two ruined buildings. The small femme was left to rot on the streets, receiving no sympathy from passers by. She was forced to rely on her gifted intellect to get through each cycle, completely alone. With no one to teach her how to transform, she was incapable of flight in a city where everything was high up. She'd starve if she hadn't been able to figure out how to scavenge Energon from restaurants throwing it away. The En Volant Inn was her usual hotspot since an employee there would, rarely, but sometimes, toss out Energon specifically so she could have it. It was the first, but second kindest gesture she'd ever receive in her youth._

* * *

Painfully and sluggishly Inter Phy gradually managed to reboot her systems and get her visual-feedback online. Groaning softly, she shakily pushed herself up into a sitting position before looking around her. Clearly, she'd just been dumped in some random alley, charming. Everything still hurt and anything that didn't seemed to be either numb or incredibly stiff. Still, she was disoriented and needed a moment for things to settle enough for her to manage a proper function. First things first, she wanted to stand up and hopefully find a reflective surface to inspect herself with. Not that she didn't dread the prospect of how horribly disfigured she probably looks with only one optic. She knew now that her entire alt-mode had been removed, wings, kibble, all of it. Positive, she felt lighter than she had in years despite being fairly small naturally. Negative, she felt very naked as most of her wiring and protoform were exposed. 

Stuffing some of the cabling into the remaining pieces of plating her frame harboured, she stood up on shaking legs. Needing to brace herself against a grimy wall, her vision swam and tilted before blurring as she tried to stabilize herself. This was fragging awful and it would seem her tanks had been pumped too so she was low on energy as well. Who the frag took this much thoroughness and time out of their day to frag up someone else's life to such an extent? 

Snarky save face aside, anxiety was bringing her down far faster than her physical abrasions. Not all of it was her own though, she quickly realized this once her processor had cleared up a bit. Reminding her of the main cause for what had been done to her, the creation of her symbiont. During her disorientation she'd been a bit too distracted to put up an emotional block, meaning her little creation could feel everything she'd experienced. In turn, she could feel everything it was feeling as well which caused her own anxiety to increase ten fold now that she realized she had no idea where it was. 

It'd be able to find her but she was still too weak to go search for it. Then again, she wasn't sure she'd want to find it until she assessed all the damage done to her. The last thing she wanted to do was scare the scrap out of it over her horrible disfigurement. Some of the damn welding lines were still hot, what the frag!?

That didn't matter though, she'd finally gotten her gyros to stop spinning and opted for trying to walk. She wanted to see the full extent of her detriment and this alley was too grungy to make anything out. Even if moving anything and everything was a struggle and every step she took made her dizzy again, she pushed on. 

Finally managing to get to a cleaner building, she let her system cool and braced herself for what she would see. With nerves of steel, she looked into the reflective surface and sighed. It wasn't nearly as bad as she had been expecting, but still, her looks were absolutely grotesque. A singular, bright green optic stared back at her, housed in a black void where her face used to be. Her new helm was crested with sharp angles, and an ugly welding line attached it to her throat cabling, no doubt that would scar. Her already thin and lanky frame was even thinner and bare of over half of its armour. Everything looked wrong and skeletal instead of full and welcoming. Not to mention her wings were most certainly gone, only burning stumps left behind. It made her want to cry but she knew that would damage her mutilated optic and she really did not want to go blind on top of everything else. 

Instead, she chose to sit back down, hugging her knees as she tried to master her awkward depth perception. At least that would occupy her time as she awaited the arrival of her creation. Hesitantly, she reached out to it over the bond wanting comfort and company while also harbouring an underlying fear of alienation from her beloved symbiote. She only received a flood of love and curiosity in return, which soothed her trepidation a fair bit. The poor thing was so innocent though, would it even understand her circumstance? Could it? 

Already, after such a rough upbringing, she'd been given another shot to make something of herself. Now, here she was sitting in a grimy ditch, worse off than she was before and only getting compassion from something that was essentially a part of herself. She lost her family, her friends, her face, her alt-mode, her job, practically her whole life. Primus must honestly hate her, but not enough to kill her off. Great, now she was wallowing in self-pity too! 

Thankfully not for long though, as her singular optic finally caught sight of a tiny figure. It was obscured by shadows but she did not need to see it to know who it was. Despite a small surge of familiarity shared between them, neither made a move to approach the other. More so Inter Phy, who waited for her symbiote to come to her when or if it became ready. It was clearly put off by its creator's appearance but after a little hesitation, it ran right to her. Opening her arms, she welcomed it into an embrace, hugging it close to her chassis. She felt as if some weight had been lifted off of her very spark just from the gesture alone, and allowed the appreciation to be felt wholeheartedly. At least now she had something left to hold onto and there was no way she was going to lose it now. 

Finally pulling back a bit, she went to press a kiss to its forehelm before she realized she couldn't. With a soft, sad sigh she nuzzled against it instead and it reciprocated by nuzzling her right back, then hugging her closer. Fluid finally began to pool around her optic. She knew that would hurt, but once the tears started to flow they wouldn't stop, though it was what she needed to do. Her little creation made a small noise in confusion and desperately tried to wipe her tears away, which only caused more to pour out as she watched it through a sparking, watery optic. In-venting deeply she wiped the liquid away herself, giving herself a moment to regulate her vents and stop crying. 

Once she removed her servo from her optic, her vision was clearer and the tears almost started right up again at the sight in front of her. Her little creation held out a scavenged cube of Energon to her, its large blue optics practically pleading her to take it so she wouldn't be so sad anymore. Taking the cube with shaking servos, she breathed out a 'thank you' as her tanks clenched at the sight of sustenance. The liquid was turning gelatinous and crusty but this wouldn't be the first time, or clearly the last time, that she'd have to use old Energon. The real trick now though was trying to figure out how the frag to ingest it without an intake. Not that she was complaining, but there were no injectors around either for pumping the fluid straight into her lines. Though she wasn't too sure she'd want to do that anyways with this one. 

With a little bit of thought and maneuvering, she put the cube’s rim under her optic in the same area her mouth had been. All she could do was hope that the opening to her throat cabling hadn't been closed off as she tilted her helm back and poured. Probably the best thing about this was that she didn't have to taste it as she luckily felt the fluid rush against the inner mesh walls of her neck and make its way into her tanks. Despite the fact that her frame needed an entire cube and this one was less than, she didn't use the whole thing. Leaving a small amount behind, she passed the remaining Energon to her creation to refuel itself. It looked at her for the confirmation that it could before removing its mouth guard and happily downing the rest. 

"I don't know what I would do without you." She spoke, her voice scratchy and filled with static. It only chirruped in response, deciding to sit in her lap and put her servo on top of its helm, causing her to laugh softly and rub. Then she wrapped her arms around it again, laying her helm against it. 

Unbeknownst to the Cybertronian and her creation, dark clouds began to roll overhead. Signaling the start of a storm.


	2. The Model

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While taking refuge from an acid storm, Inter Phy meets someone very strange but very kind.

The sounds of panicked footfalls were heard throughout the streets as Cybertronians big and small rushed for cover. The looming clouds became heavier and darker, causing any available building to be packed with worried bodies. Kibble of all different shapes and sizes made the smaller stores an unfortunate place to take refuge. 

Inter Phy was lucky for her size. She was incredibly short and no longer had impressive wings to bump into other mech’s legs. Her symbiote was even smaller than she was, making it laughably easy to navigate through a crowd which had gathered inside of a restaurant. They were practically unnoticeable as they made their way to the back of the room, taking a seat in a small booth in the far corner. Almost veryone was standing near the windows to wait for the storm to end, while a few original patrons remained seated. 

Bright red acid rain began to pour from the sky, the resulting sizzle being louder than the drops themselves. A normal Cybertronian would be in trouble, but Inter Phy could only shiver at the sound, knowing if she was out there she’d be screwed. No plating to protect her circuitry and already enough damage for her self-repair to take care of that a single pinch could probably knock her offline. Speaking of repair, she was in desperate need of Energon but she no longer had a single credit to her name. Not even enough for a metaphorical sip, concerning her current facial predicament. At least the warmth in the building made it a cozy place to die, if the irony of starving to death surrounded by Energon didn’t get to her first. Maybe someone would take pity and adopt her symbiote, who she’d probably drain the rest of her own Energon for. Though past experience told her many Vosians didn’t have a pity circuit in their chassis and it would be left to fend for itself if she died. She could always steal the Energon too, there were plenty of frames in here, it’d be hard to pin down one. 

Once that thought had festered, the temptation to execute it became stronger. The impulse became harder to push down, a small voice of reason reminded her she didn’t want to get caught and thrown out into the acid storm, but the bombardment of pain, system errors, and the hunger in her tanks began to drown the logic out. Her pede touched the ground, but she didn’t take another step as the door burst open and two larger mech’s barged in. They put down the sheet of metal they had been carrying and one of them shut the door. They shouldered bots out of the way, far less discreet in their navigating as they forced their way to the back where it was less crowded. A lot of bots stared, whether curious or offended, they didn’t say a thing to the very intimidating mechs. Finally the large invaders settled down and formed a blockade with their bodies. Leaving Inter Phy and her creation no escape into the crowd. 

Inter Phy felt her spark begin to pulse faster, they weren’t law enforcement and they didn’t seem to be after her as they were facing the crowd she was now blocked from, but her anxiety grew regardless. She didn’t have to stay concerned for long, as the two of them parted just enough for another bot to make it through. 

Her optic wasn’t going to get any better anytime soon, but she was gradually getting better with adjusting to the depth perception. All she could make out were round blobs of pastel colours. She finally managed to focus enough to put a frame to the blotches of colour. And damn was it a frame. 

A gorgeous femme looked around the room. Her soft peach and plum colour scheme stood out from the black and grey of her bodyguards. Thick hips tilted as she placed a delicate servo on top. Her frame was curvaceous and solid, headlights on her chest and wheels on her back gave her away to be a car, something not often appreciated in Vos. However, the pout of her lips and soft squint of her optics made her all the more appealing. 

Inter Phy felt her vocalizer hitch, an Energon flush would have displayed on her faceplate if she still had one. Regardless, that didn’t stop her from grabbing a menu and flipping to a random page to bury her helm in. She was small and unnoticeable, she hoped to stay that way. 

Of course, she knew that was hoping for too much as she heard pedesteps slowly approach her. Lifting the menu a little higher, the only thing to see were her disfigured servos. Maybe those would be enough to scare the femme off before anything really self-esteem obliterating happened. 

“Excuse me?” A sweet but strong voice piped up. Frag. “Mind if I sit here?” 

Resetting her voicebox a few times, she finally managed an answer. “Yeah, go ahead, I’ll move.” Still covering herself, she began to leave the booth. 

“Oh, I didn’t mean for you to leave. You can if you want, but it’s a bit crowded here.” The beautiful femme said, sitting down across from her. Hesitantly she settled back down, tempted to take another peak but refusing to leave her paperthin sanctuary. “I may be popular, but you don’t need to be so nervous. I’m nice, I promise.”

Sneaking a quick look, the femme was smiling at her. “I haven’t seen you around here before.” She responded. 

“My name’s Joule. I just moved to Vos, I haven’t even had the chance to choose a more fitting frame type, in case you couldn’t tell. Are you from around here?” 

“I’m Vosian, yeah-”

“That’s great! Would you mind showing me around sometime? I want to get a personal sense of the culture, learn about this place a bit more. I know wings are a big thing here but I need to know what’s appealing. I’m a model.” 

She wasn’t sure what to do with all of the information, Joule was incredibly forthcoming and it was extremely off putting. Especially around a stranger, a less than welcoming looking one too. “I wouldn’t know much about that kind of thing, I’m not exactly involved with the community or trends. There are sources if you need an actual tour guide.” As much as Inter Phy’s spark protested shooting down the chance, her instincts pushed her to deny it. What she needed was Energon, not to be cowering behind a menu as she shows a supermodel around the slums of Vos. Even if she tried, she knew she wouldn’t be much help. Looking into what Vosians found appealing only further dented her lack of self-esteem because she knew she would never be considered beautiful. Especially not now. Instead she used her intelligence and it had gotten her far, but here she still was.

“Oh, that’s too bad.” Joule sounded incredibly disappointed. 

_Disappointed_ of all things, who had ever cared about being in Inter Phy’s presence? Not a single bot. Then her symbiote tapped on her arm, prompting her to look down at it. Okay, maybe one being, but that's besides the point. 

“You have a sparkling?!” Joule asked excitedly, sitting up in her seat to try to get a better look at the little robot, who startled at the sudden movement.

The other femme also seemed startled by the sudden interest, fumbling with the menu blocking her view. “Uh, a sparkling..yeah..that’s what it... _she_ is.” Inter Phy fumbled with her words, panic welling up as she tried to make a backstory for her symbiote on the spot. 

“She is so adorable! But she looks a little hungry, here, let me buy you two some Energon.”

“You really don’t ha-” The model was already ordering drinks for them before she could properly protest. Well, they were starving, there really wasn’t much point in rejecting the offer. The server, tall enough to see over the large menu, stared down at her suspiciously but placed down the cubes regardless. “...Thank you.” She said in general, but didn’t lower her menu to grab it. 

“Of course! It’s the least I can do, I literally have so many credits left over from my last job and if I make it really big here, well I can buy you all the Energon on this side of Cybertron.” Joule responded, but it didn’t sound like she was gloating. “Anyway, what’s her name?” She asked, clearly talking about the symbiote before taking a drink from her own cube. 

Inter Phy began to panic again, trying to think of an answer. She hadn’t really thought to give it...her? A name. Their connection ran down to their very sparks, there really was no need for one before. But if she were to play her off as her biological creation rather than a lab one, well...a name was now necessary. So, she quickly looked around, looking at the symbiote who was happily sipping up some Energon from a curly straw, holding a far too big cube. Then she took a peak at the other femme who was hovering over them, also looking at the symbiote…’sparkling’...with a fond look. “Uh...Hover. Her name is Hover.” 

The newly dubbed ‘Hover’, looked at her creator in confusion, but continued to finish off her Energon with a happy slirp. She chirruped in thanks to the strange femme before settling down into the booth with full tanks. 

“She is soooo _cute_!” Joule continued to fawn over the little femme. Then she finally turned back to the other femme. “Even if you can’t show me around, can we exchange comm frequencies? I absolutely love sparklings and I want to see you two again!” She said, waving her servos around and practically out of her seat with enthusiasm. Though her current company not responding had her sitting back down, trying to settle herself. “If you want to of course, no pressure!...Sorry...I get a little excited sometimes.” 

Inter Phy shook herself from her stupor, her spark fluttering in hope and equal excitement, but she was afraid to show it. “Uh, you don’t need to apologize, it’s okay really...it’s just...are you sure? Like really sure? I’m...not exactly...your caste....” She responded, cringing as she slowly lowered her menu to let her current company see what she meant. She was expecting a scream of terror or for the other femme to purge, but she was met with a shocked gasp and servos reaching out to her. 

“Your optic is gorgeous! What shade of green is that, do you know?” Unexpectedly, Joule began to go on a ramble about colour schemes and paint that would compliment the look.

“...You...aren’t disgusted by me?” 

“Disgusted? Of course not! Empurata is barbaric, but you are actually really pretty!” 

Inter Phy couldn’t tell if her systems had crashed at that moment. She was offline wasn’t she? She was laying in a gutter completely cold and had now joined the Well Of Allsparks. There was absolutely no way this was happening. A _literal_ supermodel was not complimenting her for the first time in her life. No way. “I-wha...Uh...Thank you?” She was practically choking on static trying to process what was happening. 

“Oh! The storm is letting up, I’m going to have to go, but enjoy your Energon and here’s my comm frequency!” Joule said and smiled when the stunned femme fummbled to do the same. “Got your frequency, I’ll give you a comm later! Nice to meet you!” She waved before returning to her bodyguards, who pushed through the crowd beginning to filter out of the building. 

Inter Phy stared at the door for a while, before looking at her untouched cube. Reaching out, she picked it up and began to drink, feeling her energy levels begin to rise. Finishing it off in one go, she sighed with relief before turning to her symbiote. “Did that really just happen?” 

Hover nodded before shimmying out of the booth and grabbing the empty cubes and disposing of them. Once done, she reached up to her creator, making grabby hands.

Inter Phy chuckled and held the symbiote’s servo, the two of them making their way to the door. “Time to go home.” 


	3. Vos

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Joule contacts Inter Phy again, wanting to hang out and explore some of the sights of Vos.

Inter Phy dusted off her frame, the remains of her plating ruffling in agitation from the decrepit atmosphere. It had been a long time since she had had to return to her home. Before she had simply lived in her lab to cut down on costs, but that was gone, so all she had was her cramped little hole in the ground. 

However, the berth was still the perfect size and it was the only home she had left, so it was good enough. She had also gotten a proper defrag cycle, which was surprising, but she had welcomed it. The recharge and Energon had done wonders for her self repair and her body almost felt okay. Almost. She knew with Empurata came chronic pain, but, well, there wasn’t much she could do about that. 

Pushing that from her mind, she looked down to where her symbiote was cuddled into her side, still peacefully recharging. Hover had never been here and her creator foolishly had hoped she would never have to, but now they were back at the very bottom again. 

Inter Phy couldn’t help looking away sadly. Yesterday had just been a fluke, some weird phenomenon that would not be repeated. She knew how her life went and that was constantly down the drain. No point hoping for anything. Not when she had to focus on keeping the two of them online...yet again. 

Her comm going off suddenly made her whole frame shake in surprise, jostling the poor symbiote and causing her to sit up in surprise. 

:Hello?:

:Hi! I’m sorry did I disturb you? This is Joule by the way, the femme from yesterday?:

:I definitely remember, don’t worry. Uh, hi.: 

:Awesome! I have a free day today, we’re still getting established here and all. I know you said you don’t really give tours, but I found some great looking places and I was really hoping you could come along. Just in case I get lost of course! I am still  _ very  _ new and my bodyguards are  _ boring,  _ so I don’t want them coming along...I am talking a lot, I’ll stop now.:

Inter Phy looked around at her surroundings. She could either rust down here with nothing to do or she could go explore Vos with a gorgeous and kind femme. How would she ever choose?

:You don’t have to stop talking, that actually, uh...that sounds really nice, I’d love to, thank you.: 

:So, you’ll come?:

:Sure, but I have to warn you I might slow you down. I don’t really have my...alt-mode...anymore.:

:I totally understand, I’ll come pick you up!:

:No, no, uh, I can meet you somewhere instead.:

:Alright, same place we met then!:

Inter Phy scrambled out of her berth as the commline clicked off. Getting there would take her longer thanks to her size and inability to fly, so she had to leave as soon as possible to get there in time. “Uh, Hover, time to get up, we’re going out!” 

The symbiote looked up at her groggily, clearly still a little out of it but complying anyway and getting off of the berth. Stretching, Hover released a small confused beep, following after her creator who was frantically pacing around the room, clearly looking for something. 

“I know I looked like scrap yesterday, but two times in a row just can’t happen, I need something to wipe myself down at least.” Inter Phy explained, shoving a pile of junk aside and pulling out a cloth with a triumphant sound. It was no oil bath and polish, but it was the best she could do. She rubbed the grim and grit from her frame, dusting off her symbiote as well while she was at it, before deeming the two of them clean enough. “Okay, we have to go.” Taking a hold of her creation’s servo, they briskly left the slums and headed into the city, back to the overcrowded restaurant. 

Despite the haste, unsurprisingly Joule had beat them to the location. Her pastel orange and purple plating glinted in the sunlight as she sat at one of the outside tables, calmly reading a data pad and sipping some Energon.

Before Inter Phy could properly think of what to say to get the other femme’s attention, Hover chirruped in excitement and jumped onto one of the unoccupied chairs, startling the model. 

“Oh! Hover, hi!” Joule said, still clutching the plating over her spark chamber as she greeted the little femme. Putting down her data pad, she tilted her to head to regard her approaching company, giving a winning smile to the flustered femme. “And the Vosian! I just realized, I never asked your name.” 

Inter Phy gingerly sat down, a little weary as some bypassers optics roamed over the odd assembly of femmes. “Uh, Integer Physics, but I prefer Inter Phy.” 

“And Inter Phy!” Joule clapped excitedly. “I’m glad you made it! I found a brochure that talks about all these tourist attractions but I want your opinion on where we should go.” She opened up the locations on her data pad and swiped through a few, making sure her company could see it. However, before the other femme could respond, she noticed the sparkling was reaching for her cube. “Oh, it is so early, you two must be practically running on empty, I’ll get another round of Energon.” 

“You really don’t have to, it’s okay.” Inter Phy tried to interject but there was already a cube in front of her and her tanks told her that she definitely needed it. “Thank you, uh, again.” She said awkwardly, somewhat embarrassed at how quickly she accepted it. Her symbiote was already guzzling down a cube, so she might as well accept the offer. Take the kindness while it lasts, she supposed. “I actually know where this place is,” She indicated to a museum, it was only a few blocks away. “We could start there first if you would like?” 

“Sounds amazing! Let’s do it!” Joule responded, before pausing. “After we all top off of course.”

The three of them sat in momentary silence as they finished the rest of their Energon. Once done, she paid and they began their walk. It wasn’t going to be a long one, but regardless, she decided to strike up a conversation. Her company wasn’t the most keen on sharing information, which was fine by her, as she happily chatted about her past career and all of the places she had traveled to, to model. 

Before she knew it, they were standing in front of the museum and she had managed to talk nonstop the entire way there. Suddenly she flushed in embarrassment, “I’m sorry, I get really passionate about my career, I could talk about it  _ forever _ . What do you want to talk about?” She asked, trying to nudge the conversation reins to her guest as she paid for their entry. 

“Oh, uh, I don’t really have much to talk about honestly. I was really interested in what you had to say about Praxus though, I’ve never been outside of Vos.” Inter Phy said, which prompted an even longer tangent about the places the model had traveled too. She really didn’t mind honestly, it was nice to just be able to listen and look around while enjoying some company. 

So, she did just that. Only saying enough to keep the conversation going, but mostly just letting the other femme talk while they explored. Hover was eager to see everything, running from exhibit to exhibit, taking in everything with such wonder. It echoed in Inter Phy’s own spark, she had never been somewhere like this. She was never allowed. 

“This one is a little high for you, here, let me help.” Joule said, leaning down to pick up the other femme’s sparkling who was jumping up and down in excitement. Holding the little femme up, they both looked at the display, watching recorded Seeker frames perform a complex aerial routine. “Amazing…”

Inter Phy was also mesmerized, but also a longing began to well up in her chest. She couldn’t fly anymore and probably never would again. Clearly the depression bubbling inside her could be felt by her symbiote, who looked over at her, still being held up by the much taller femme. Well, no point ruining their fun. So, she instead cast her gaze to another exhibit, shaking the gloom from her processor and instead looking at an intricate crystal display. 

“Do you want to go to the Crystal Garden next? I think I have enough notes for my research. This was really helpful, thank you so much for suggesting it!” Joule said, now standing beside the other femme, with the sparkling happily hopping beside her. 

“Sure.” Inter Phy agreed, the three of them exciting the museum before following the map all the way to the next location. 

Hover reached one of her servos up to her creator, opening and closing it silently in a grabby gesture. With a chuckle, her creator held her servo, but then she did the same to the other femme, earning a surprised sound before the request was complied with. Chirping happily, she was held up and playfully swung between the two femmes, earning some laughter for her antics as they continued to swing her back and forth as they walked. 

“She really is so cute.” Joule commented, surprisingly more focused on the sparkling playing between them than on the gorgeous crystal arrangements surrounding them. “Where’s her sire...or carrier, were you the sire or carrier? Sorry if that’s too personal.”

Inter Phy paused, her panic returning. “Uh, carrier.” That was somewhat true, the symbiote had come from her own spark. Now making up a second creator on the spot…“He, uh, yeah, he’s gone now. Lab accident.” The other femme only nodded silently, demeanour shifting just a fraction, and  _ frag _ , why did she make this made up sire a mech. “I, uh, prefer femmes anyway.” Too strong,  _ too strong _ ,  **_stop talking_ ** . 

Joule nodded a bit more energetically this time. “I don’t think I could ever get with a mech, honestly. I haven’t even tried, they’re just too common and unappealing, so, me too.” The other femme would be smiling at that answer if it were still possible to do so. Regardless, she emoted enough for the both of them as she suddenly lit up and pointed at a fountain in the middle of the garden. “Let’s sit over there!” She suggested, tugging the femme train along and prompting them all to sit around it. 

Hover leaned over the edge and slapped at the water, chirruping in delight as she did so; receiving more laughter at her antics and the model even scooped some up and splashed her playfully. 

“What do you think she’ll turn into?” Joule asked, continuing to gently flick some water at the sparkling. “Actually what do you transform into?” The other femme couldn’t help cringing at the question and she winced. “Right, sorry, I forgot that can be a sensitive topic. If it makes you feel any better, I’m a grounder.” It was pretty clear her alt-mode was a ground based vehicle, a car. 

Inter Phy internally debated whether to answer or not, it really wasn’t a question she liked and well, she couldn’t really transform anymore anyway. “Uh, it’s super taboo, but uh, my carrier was a Minicon and my sire was a seeker. Even before this,” She indicated to her...non consensual surgery. “I wasn’t sure what I was. I had wings, some kind of flight mode, but now I’m just an Empuratee and a Monoformer.” 

Joule nodded sympathetically, clearly regretting the topic. “Sorry for asking about that, but thank you for telling me.” She said, avoiding eye contact and instead looking around at the crystals. They really were beautiful, but somehow her whole attention had been on her company. However, the night cycle was showing signs of beginning. “We should probably get going. Thank you for showing me around.” Knowing she’d get in trouble for staying out so late, she quickly got up and began to leave, but not without waving with a declaration of, “Until next time!”

“Until next time!” Inter Phy echoed, taking a hold of Hover’s servo and heading back home. 

**Author's Note:**

> Please please please leave a comment if you enjoy! It can be hard to get some loving on fics with OCs and this is supposed to be a very big series (canon characters come in later) so all the motivation would really really help!


End file.
